Global games investment rose 38% from $3.1 billion to $4.3 billion in 2024, according to a report by game venture capital firm Hiro Capital.

And if you look at games, mixed reality, and sports tech, the numbers showed over $10 billion was invested in those categories in 2024, based on data from Dealroom that was analyzed by Hiro Capital.

Despite an overall funding downturn in the world, global games investment rose, said Luke Alvarez, founding managing partner at Hiro Capital, in an interview with GamesBeat.

“We’re pretty optimistic,” Alvarez said. “We continue to make games in a huge and exciting sector and it’s had a slowdown, but it’s recovering from that and quality games makers will continue to make great games and make money for their investors. Games are eating the world by expanding into sports and all these other areas like deep tech, and we’re enthusiastic about that.”

He noted that the United Kingdom and European games industry are worth nearly $200 billion. In the U.K., investment into spatial computing increased by 141% in 2024, with AR, VR, and 3D technologies being widely adopted in industries beyond games, such as healthcare. And the report fond that investment into sports tech was $1.8 billion, down from from $2.5 billion in 2023.

As immersive technologies like spatial computing and AI move beyond entertainment, they are reshaping industries such as healthcare, automotive and skills training. This sets the stage for an exciting 2025, as the benefits of these new technologies begin to be realized, the report said.

During 2024, spatial computing companies raised $4.5 billion, with significant growth in AR and VR applications beyond gaming.